Chapter 24 of my Book “Something to Ponder”
Legacy
Recently my Mother and I talked about how many children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren she had. She has 5 kids, 12 grand kids, and 27 great grand kids with a total 44 as the day of this writing. This is her legacy, among other things.
Do you see the progression, 5 kids, and with those kids she has 12 grand kids, and with them she has 27 great grand kids? The legacy gets larger with each generation.
A former pastor we had when I was a young teenager was named Brother Frank Holcomb, and he once said “If everyone won one and that one, won one and then that one, won one, before long there wouldn’t be one left to win”.
Now that takes me back to the last chapter. On October 19, 2017, as we sat at Tranquility Hospice Care, in Austell, Georgia with My Dad Elvin Swann, I noticed quite a few people were there to see my Dad. He was just hours away from his homecoming to be with our Heavenly Father.
I really don’t know how many people came through that day, with family and friends, I know there was a little crowd in his room, I was told that the waiting room across the hall had a few people and the break room was full of folks that came by to say their goodbyes.
As I surveyed the crowd, I had a thought, how many of these people came to accept Christ as a result of the man lying there in that room. My Dad accept Jesus as his Savior in October 1966. As result of his conversion, we had a number of family members come to know Jesus as their Lord shortly thereafter. He may not have been personally responsible for leading them to Lord but as a result of his life they had accepted Christ.
So, I started looking around and the best that I could tell there were only three people that came through that day that he didn’t have something to do with them coming to church and eventually accepting Jesus as their Savior. I am not saying that they wouldn’t have been Saved if he hadn’t made a change in his life, but we may never know for sure.
That brings me now to my Mother, she taught Sunday School for years, she taught summer Bible School year after year. She taught a youth small group that wasn’t called that then but that what it was. She had at times in my Aunt Irene Evans home 20 to 30 kids there. They were here to hear Bible stories, and to have some snacks, and a prize for 1 child each week. She worked at a Christian Children’s Home for a little over 28 years, and while there the kids would use her as a place to bring their disagreements, that they couldn’t share with anyone else. She would listen to them and sometimes that’s all that they needed was someone to listen. And then give Godly advice that they could be used and not in any way disagree with their Houseparent’s.
Out of the kids she taught over the years and the ones that my Dad got are responsible for coming to church I honestly believe that there are hundreds if not thousands that will be in heaven as a result of my Godly Parents.
I got this off the internet in which a preacher said:
“One of my favorites “minor characters” in American history is a man named Edward Kimball. There aren’t many people who could tell you the historical significance of Edward Kimball. After all, he is so un-famous that he doesn’t even have his own Wikipedia page. But through his simple service to God, he has had a worldwide impact.
In 1854, Kimball was a Sunday School teacher in Detroit, and one day he went to visit a 17-year-old boy who was in his Sunday School class who had little interest in God or religion. During his visit with this young man at his job in a shoe shop, he led the boy into a relationship with Christ. That young man was D.L. Moody, who went on to become one of the greatest evangelists in the world, sharing the gospel with 100 million people, as well as founding Moody Bible Institute and The Moody Church in Chicago.
But the story doesn’t end there. Through his ministry, Moody was responsible for a London pastor named F.B. Meyer coming to faith. Meyer was responsible for J. Wilbur Chapman coming to faith, and Chapman influenced Billy Sunday, another prominent evangelist of the 20th century. Billy Sunday was integral in a man named Mordecai Ham coming to faith. And Mordecai Ham was the preacher responsible for leading a young man named Billy Graham to Christ.
And that, my friends, is a spiritual legacy.
Some years ago, while talking with a preacher I stated that I have no legacy, I have no children and as a result no legacy, the preacher asked how many people have come to know the Lord Jesus as a result of my preaching? I said quite a few I think, he then went on to say how many people have you seen in the ministries that you worked with come to know Christ? I said hundreds. He then went on to say how many times have you prayed for pastors and preachers and seen souls saved? Again, I said plenty I’m sure. How many times have you worked an altar and talked with people out and about and seen them come to Christ? I again said I am not sure dozens I suppose. Out of all those that you helped come to the saving knowledge of The Lord Jesus Christ and the ones that they led to Him, and then those that they led to Him, they are your Legacy.
That takes me back to my Parents, just thinking about the ones that came to Church because of my Dad, He did a weekly visitation even at times all alone, but he went. And then the ones that my Dad and Mother ministered to over the years at the preachers and the teachers that are out there now as a result in them just being faithful to the call to go. I see a GREAT and MIGHTY LEGACY.
Now I leave you with this: What kind of legacy do you have, and are leaving?
It is your fault, so be careful what you are taught. Know that God is still working on you and is carrying you on His strong shoulders, and let Him. Because you can do all things through Christ if you let Him fill you with His Holy Spirit. Don’t cover your light, let it shine, when you are caught in the rough keep swinging till you get out and never give up. When fishing for souls make sure to use the right bait. And know we all need some help sometimes. And never forget You Are His Favorite!
Please leave a great Godly Legacy.
